


Dragonfly

by BabyChocoboAlchemist



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Comfort, Connections, Heartache, M/M, Transcending time and space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-13 03:19:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10505337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyChocoboAlchemist/pseuds/BabyChocoboAlchemist
Summary: ”Ifrit’s tongue, Ignis, why can’t you get it through your head?! You. Are. Not. My. Stunt. Double! You are my FRIEND! My FRIEND, gods dammit! Isn’t anything I’m saying getting into that thick skull of yours?!”Distance is born between Noctis and Ignis after the latter makes a decision that sets Noctis on fire. Noctis thinks it’s just anger, but there’s much, much more to his feelings than the frustration of dealing with a devoted advisor.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mayoki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayoki/gifts).



> Hi! This was heavily inspired by a fanfic called ‘Duty of Care’ by Mayoki, an incredible masterpiece that features Noctis becoming incensed with Ignis over a certain decision. I read that once upon a time, and I’ve never fallen out of love with it. I wrote this while Disney’s ‘Moana’ was playing the background, so I’d like to give a huge thank you to that as well. None of my writing would be possible without inspiration from others, so thank you world! 
> 
> This was dubbed ‘Dragonfly’ because I looked up the dragonfly’s lore while at work, and the beautiful creature instantly reminded me of Ignis. The dragonfly is a creature of ancient wisdom and peerless beauty. Not only that, but it teaches humans how to transcend their limits, how to believe in a destiny much greater than themselves.
> 
> There may be a second half written through Ignis’ eyes. In the meantime, thank you for being here.

Noctis still couldn’t picture himself being anywhere near Ignis without killing him, but it was time to retreat. 

Slumber would be the perfect escape, despite Galdin Quay’s waters being the perfect confidant for a few hours. Emotions were swept off his shoulders and laid into their gentle arms for a while, the prince’s anger driven into the waters like blades, but the comfort was not meant to last. As the hours wore on, the longing for cool, inviting sheets drove him back towards the ecosphere he sought to escape. And as the unfolding moments carried him closer to a certain door, memories grew heavier. The unfolding seconds reawakened the pages of a nightmare, trapping him in silence. Leaving him only able to hear the sound of water flooding his ears, nothing at all like the gentle waves caressing the shores. 

Noctis still couldn’t picture himself making it through the night without killing Ignis, but it was time to retreat. He heard enough about how he enjoyed the art of sleeping, particularly from the one he wanted to toss into an incinerator, so deciding to take advantage of the night’s remaining calm would go down in history as one of his best ideas. Hopefully a certain advisor was already asleep, as the young sovereign wasn’t at all interested in another encounter. As far as he was concerned, Ramuh could blast Ignis off the face of creation.

Gods damn it, Ignis. If only Shiva would come down, just for a second, to trap him in a chasm of never-ending frost.

The rift between the two of them came from his duty. His drive to protect the Prince from dangers great and small. It hadn’t bothered him so much before, Ignis’ determination to keep him safe only pricking his skin, but that day set him on fire. Broiled him alive, like meteors crashing onto an unsuspecting earth. The moments of the nightmare were a blur, particularly since his drive to leave them behind warped them, but there they were, all the same. Reminding him of how warped his world was, of how everything was dictated but nothing was agreed to. It was all for him but not for him at the same time. Nothing was for him, despite popular belief, despite everything his father had said, despite the map set out for him. Nothing worked. Nothing made any damn sense.

Just didn’t make any sense, how Ignis believed himself to be so damn expendable. Not after everything they had been through.  


It happened in the blink of an eye, the nightmare he wanted to leave behind. He and his brothers, souls he recognized as mates, were on the outskirts of Galdin Quay. A behemoth large enough to swallow the sky materialized out of thin air, disturbing the delicate balance between calm and time. Gladio rushed to Prompto’s side, a volley of bullets rang through the sky, and before Noctis could take another blink, it happened. 

Ignis, covering him in the scents of earth and lavender, cast his body over him. And all at once, the earth, sun and seasons elevated him into a state of mind that frightened him, awakened him, stirred his blood all at once. Shifted him into a state of being that sent him into a realm of the most peaceful dreams he had ever encountered, but forced him to face a reality he wanted to leave behind.

With the pulse of thunder raging in his ears, he recollected the words that had just been said, the words that should’ve been left buried but erupted like magma.

_”Ifrit’s tongue, Ignis, why can’t you get it through your head?! You. Are. Not. My. Stunt. Double! You are my FRIEND! My FRIEND, gods dammit! Isn’t anything I’m saying getting into that thick skull of yours?!”_

_”Guess it doesn’t matter what I say. You’ve got your orders, after all, and I’m just the douchebag you work for.”_

Those words in particular stung, and Prompto’s pleas didn’t make anything better. Upsetting the baby chocobo was a law you just did not break, but Noctis broke it, standing before the one he wanted to have executed by the Astrals. The prince not only broke that law but twisted it, shoved it into an inferno then threw its ashes into the stars. The photographer tried to stop it, tried to stop the storm from unfolding, tried to point out that Ignis was okay and that the potions had done their job, but nothing hit home. Noctis tore away from the world and all that was in it, leaving behind his two brothers, the ones that made him whole. Ignis?

Ignis used to be one of his brothers, but as of late, he hadn’t been anything but a gnat that drove him completely and utterly insane.

Didn’t make much sense for him to be heading back to his room, the room he shared with Ignis, but the night was growing old. His little brother was probably already fast asleep, nestled in the strongest, warmest arms anyone could long for. It had been a long trek to Galdin Quay, made even longer by the battle against the greatest beast in the galaxy-otherwise known as the time in which Ignis made himself out to be a complete idiot.

An idiot. An arcane, courageous, beautiful idiot.

Perhaps it was time to bury the hatchet, or at least try to bury the hatchet. For Prompto. Upsetting little brother was worse than committing treason against the Six, so something had to be done. Maybe he’d get through an hour without killing Ignis. So, taking a deep breath, Noctis set his hand on the doorknob. The gateway to a world that had him wanting to set himself on fire. Damn the gods for the suites being sold out. If only-

There weren’t the sounds of a meteor lacerating creation. Gales disturbing the balance between the earth and waves.

The door was thrust open. A force greater than any the Six could create whipped through him, as though he weren’t anything but paper. Carried by that force, those sounds, those damn sounds, Noctis ran. Couldn’t breathe, earth unseen, Ignis being all that he knew. Something strange had taken a hold of his advisor, his confidant, his friend, and it had to be removed. Taken out of him.

Wounds forgotten, time falling into nothingness, Noctis swept Ignis into his arms. The cries continued but until they stopped, until the night left him, Noctis would not let go. Wouldn’t let go of the one that kept him together, the one that made him whole, the one that taught him how to fly. He held him close, burying his head into his chest, stroking the dream made of earth and lavender. “I’m here,” he murmured, stroking the back of Ignis’ head, fighting off the tears that came with the fears, the anger, the frustration. Ignoring the boundaries of time, space and memory to fight off whatever had taken the transcendental, strange creature affectionately known as ‘Princess Specs’. “I’m here,” he murmured, just as Ignis had murmured to him in the wake of crippling nightmares.

It was his turn. His turn to do the rescuing. The healing.

“I’m here. Ssssh, I’m here. I’m here, Ignis. I’m here.”

Those words, just as gentle as they were when spoken to a little prince, pulled him out of the rift borne between them. The eyes of esoteric wisdom and grace flew open, meeting the prince’s calm eyes in the divide across time. They were silent, two souls born in different worlds but united in that one moment, that one breath, that room underneath the stars. “Didn’t know you had nightmares,” Noctis chuckled, caressing the edges of a dream with a gentle hand.

“Thought people like you didn’t even know what nightmares were. I mean, I know you know everything, but I thought you wouldn’t know about nightmares.”

Ignis looked at him with eyes borne of anger, hurt and tears. “What nonsense are you spouting now?” he demanded, hurt by being separated, detached from Noctis by Noctis’ own words. 

“Nothing, it’s just…you remember all of those stories you used to tell me? The bedtime stories you told me to shut me up? They were always about creatures from other worlds. Worlds a little too far away from mine. They…they gave me hope because they let know there was more for me to see, more for me to find other than whatever my old man told me to find. Those stories let me know there was something much greater than the box I lived in, and in those worlds there were always these amazing creatures. Creatures made of the stars and things beyond my wildest dreams. You’re one of those creatures so I assumed you wouldn’t be affected by things like nightmares.”

Noctis stared at him with genuine curiosity, a look he hadn’t given Ignis since they discovered the royal gardens together. “Maybe it’s because you became human,” the sovereign mused, gently knocking on the advisor’s forehead. “Which explains why you’re such a klutz sometimes. You act like you know everything but you really don’t. You’re nothing but a fraud. A fraud from the stars.”

The prince rolled his eyes after a moment of silence. “Come on. Don’t tell me you forgot how to _talk_ like us humans. Sheesh, Ignis. Maybe if I make you some tea, you’ll get your memories back.”

Noctis threw himself onto his feet, humming a tune shared in their earlier days. “Does this mean you’re no longer angry with me?” a breathless bladesman asked, blinking, wide eyed, otherwise speechless. The sovereign threw a mischievous smile at him over his shoulder, walking towards their miniature kitchen. 

“I guess. How can I be when you’re still learning our ways? I mean, come on, you’re only like a year older than me or whatever. At least in human years. What do you want, chamomile or jasmine tea?”

…

The prince turned back around to face Ignis, shoulders slumped and eyes rolling in clear signs of defeat. “Come on, Ignis, if that’s even your real name. Should just call you Dragonfly, since you remind me so much of one. You have to stop staring at me and tell me what you want. Don’t tell me that creep back there knocked everything out of you. If you’re having a concussion, at least tell me _that_ so I can tell a doctor.”

Noctis returned to the art of tea-making, first tackling the challenge of selecting a tea the creature gawking at him would enjoy. 

“Sheesh. I’m traveling with a chocobo and a miniature Astral. What in the gods’ name is Gladio, a box of Cup Noodles turned human?”


	2. Elevation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This _is_ all my fault. Maybe if I had said something about this earlier, maybe if I had stopped you from seeing yourself as an expendable piece of shit a long time ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You sure as Hell wouldn’t have almost died, and you wouldn’t be giving me a look I thought only Prompto had mastered. Maybe it’s about time I let you know how much I need you to stick around, Princess, so you’ll at least think of looking after yourself before you tie yourself to the train tracks for me.”
> 
> A friendship moves into new territory once Noctis and Ignis confront buried emotions.

Ignis Scientia stared at Noctis Lucis Caelum, in a state of shock he never thought he’d experience. It was an odd state of mind, one that transcended logic and turned reality inside out. It was a state he never thought would hit him, as there were always a billion thoughts rolling through his mind, each one ultimately given a voice. But on that night, a night that had his corner of the world sheathed in the caresses of Galdin Quay’s waters, he was completely and utterly-

Speechless.

He couldn’t do anything but stare at the young prince, and it wasn’t because Noctis had willingly walked into their miniature kitchen. He didn’t care for the state of mind he had fallen into, torn and confused by how the minutes unfolded and how his thoughts fell silent. There was always something to say, something to share, something to tell him, but nothing came to mind. His mind, heart and spirit were intent on battling each other, their crossed wires sending off silent sparks. Just a short while ago, the sovereign was intent on having Titan gut-punch him off the face of creation, but that night painted a scene completely detached from that moment in time. 

In a state others commonly referred to as ‘confusion’, Ignis continued to stare at his prince. The pot of tea continued to unfold in their miniature kitchen, with the one and only Noctis at the helm. “I’ll mix whatever we’ve got,” the swordsman chirped, settling two bags in his advisor’s mug. The young man wasn’t even remotely close to the one that burned holes in the master chef’s skull a few hours ago, completely calm, warm and cheerful.

“Looks like we’ve got chamomile and peppermint. Sure you’ll like whatever I give you, because it’s what you’ve been carryin’ around anyway. Which one do you like better, by the way? Coffee or tea? Kinda hard to tell, from the way you down ‘em both.”

“Take it back.”

Noctis lifted an eyebrow at him. “Sorry, didn’t mean t’ ruffle your feathers, Princess. If you wanna turn into a walking coffee mug, who am I to judge? I like cupcakes in the shape of chocobos. Mostly because they remind me of Prompto, but whatever. And the entire galaxy knows how much Gladio loves his damn noodles. We’ve all got our quirks. You’ve got way more than the three of us put together, but that’s-”

Ignis spoke without facing him, his voice a low yet deafening rumble. Eyes on the ground, syllables wreathed in sadness that weighed far more than the moon, he gave a voice to his thoughts. “I’m not talking about the tea,” he snarled. Noctis took full stock of how the moon’s reflection was sitting, upper body curved while his arms hugged his knees to his chest.

The chef added an explanation, so close to the prince yet only able to see strange, merciless hands tearing through his heart as if it weren’t anything but paper. 

“I’m talking about your praise. Take it back. It’s unwarranted.”

Noctis stared at his lifelong mentor, eyes as calm as the evening waves. The creature before him came with plenty of sass, sure, equipped with a feisty spirit so ferocious it made the Six take notice. The advisor nipped at him for not eating his vegetables and for not being careful enough in battle, but Ignis had never given him a demand. In his book of everyday rules (something Noctis was sure he actually carried), there were two things you just didn’t do. Upsetting Prompto and actually ordering the prince around were on the same level of treason. Nagging was one thing, but _telling_ him not to do something? Completely unheard of. The next thing they’d know, Prompto would show up at their door, telling them he wanted to burn his camera. But the rebellion wasn’t what got under the sovereign’s skin. It was about time Ignis stopped asking for permission to exist. Unfortunately-

That’s where the sword grew another edge. 

Ignis had spoken his mind, but not without hesitation. Not without shame or fear, either. He most likely wasn’t afraid of Noctis, but of forces the prince could not see. Clouds the young swordsman knew nothing about. It was all proven by the way the moon was sitting, almost curled into a ball, wanting to hide. Hating himself for even thinking of speaking his mind. After-

The prince bit into his lip hard enough to draw a pool of blood. 

After sinking into a moment of silence, finding the will to keep himself from ripping off Ignis’ head, Noctis left behind the teapot to sit beside the other. “Give me a minute,” he urged gently, struggling to keep his warm tone intact. “Trying to wrap my head around the way you work here. If I don’t, I’ll go back to wanting to kill you, and we both know that can’t happen because it would break little brother’s heart. You can’t break Prompto’s heart. There are some things you just can’t do, and that’s number one.”

He hated it, hated how Ignis was still turned away from him, when all he had done was speak his mind. Hated how Ignis spoke so brutally against himself. And no slack would be given for him being of celestial origins. “Let me work this out,” the prince sighed, suppressing the urge to suddenly become violent, to hide the body and tell Prompto Ignis had accidentally fallen off a cliff. 

“Let me recreate the scene. We went to the caverns. Shit hit the fan. You almost-wait, what’s the word I’m looking for? Oh yeah-died. You almost _died_ and you don’t deserve to be praised? I don’t know what you were taught up there, but things don’t work that way down here. Not with me.”

Hurt erupted, unyielding, everlasting, searing. Noctis laid a hand on the other’s arm, his eyes meeting Ignis’ yet again, his eyes serene while the advisor’s eyes were ablaze with panic. He spoke softly, warmly, despite the cold rising from within. “If you wanna think you’re expendable, fine,” the prince said, biting back the hurt, the frustration, the urge to light everything on fire and rewrite time itself.

“If that’s the way your mind wants to work, fine, who am I to stop it? What do I know about the mind of creature who’s not even from the same dimension? I just need you to do something for me, Ignis. Try to remember how much you mean to me. Just try. I know you can give me that much. If you can give me your life, you can give me that. That’s all I want. That’s it, Princess. Just try.”

With the emotions on his face proving that wasn’t nearly enough, Noctis rose to his feet, remembering the tea. Something strange shot through his thoughts, though, like an arrow of sunlight suddenly illuminating the earth. It was-

Another rebellion.

“It was dark. Too dark.”

Noctis whirled around, eyes locked on the close yet distant keeper of stories. 

“It was taken from me, the world you and I know. Nothing familiar greeted me in the world I was forced into. I couldn’t find Gladiolus or our little brother, nor could I find you. No matter how much I called out, I never got an answer.”

Noctis shut his eyes, thinking of how he would’ve been happier being roasted alive by Ifrit. Slowly. Inch by inch.

“I ran. Ran for what felt like an eternity. It soon hit me, the truth of the world I had fallen into, the dark, desolate place from which I would know no release. I found you but still couldn’t see you. Couldn’t reach you. I heard you, heard your voice, but you were in distress. In a dirty scuffle with the ruffian we met earlier. I tried my hardest to reach you, but nothing I did worked. All of my efforts were in vain. You were taken from me, and I was helpless. Completely and utterly helpless.”

Ignis gave him a look that gave birth to a vow. If anyone even thought of looking at the advisor the wrong way after that night, Noctis would summon every last Astral to torment them. 

“Noct, I’m frightened.”

Not knowing whether to laugh out of electric relief, cry or obliterate creation, Noctis remained still for a moment. It had been eons since Ignis had been so honest with him, but the circumstances had the prince considering his second and third choices, as the master chef was not at all happy. Trapped in between options two and three, he returned to the other’s side trying to remain as gentle as the waves. “The time will come when I’m not enough,” Ignis went on, speaking only to the prince but to himself as well, eyes burrowing into the core of creation. Ablaze with pain and the wounds of infinite shame.

“I will be there but I won’t be enough. Just as I wasn’t today.”

Noctis tore into his bottom lip yet again. If he couldn’t incinerate the universe, the least he could do was rip a new hole into his lip.

“Right. Why are we still ignoring how you almost died?”

“Why are my actions bothering you so much, when they’ve never bothered you before?”

“Good, good, we’re making progress,” the prince nodded while grimacing, feeling as though an Astral had shoved a claw into his chest. “Took a major hit, but I deserved it. Definitely deserved it. At least you’re mad at me, Dragonfly, so we’re making pretty good progress here.”

“You know it wasn’t my intention to hurt you!”

“Of course it wasn’t,” Noctis retaliated, voice soft but heavy with sadness, guilt, hatred. The venom he directly entirely at himself. “But I picked up a tiny grain of truth from what you just said. This _is_ all my fault. Maybe if I had said something about this earlier, maybe if I had stopped you from seeing yourself as an expendable piece of shit a long time ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You sure as Hell wouldn’t have almost died, and you wouldn’t be giving me a look I thought only Prompto had mastered. Maybe it’s about time I let you know how much I need you to stick around, Princess, so you’ll at least think of looking after yourself before you tie yourself to the train tracks for me.”

Hands laid on top of Ignis’, the prince spoke as gently as the moonlight fell. “I need you just as the sun needs the moon. I need you just as the stars need a place to sleep. I need you-“

“Just as the seasons need the earth.”

Noctis chuckled, eyes alive with warmth. “Right, one of your dumb poems. I listen to what you say. It just looks like I don’t sometimes.”

“No, it sounds like you don’t listen to me sometimes.”

“And we’re back to normal,” the prince snickered playfully, returning to the mini kitchen. The tea had been waiting patiently for its newest fans. “You were a lot cuter when you were upset. Didn’t know you had been taking pages out of little brother’s playbook, by the way. Kinda funny thinking of a mini Astral as something that’s insanely adorable, but what can you do?”

“Noct?”

The sovereign sighed out loud, shoulders slumped. “What is it _now?”_

“Why do I remind you of a dragonfly?”

“Ah, it’s not that big of a deal, really,” Ignis’ pupil said contentedly, finally delivering a steaming cup of fragrant nourishment. Noctis explained himself as though the details were obvious, innocent, no different from the details behind his friend’s most basic recipe. 

“It’s just that you glow, whether the sun’s out or the moon’s high. You fly not just against the storm, but into it. And you’d be damned if you didn’t. You inspire me to be something greater when all I want to be is nothing. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be a fraction of the guy I am today. Yeah, I’ve got everything laid out in front of me, but you’re one of the few things I can count on. Someone that reminds me to stay calm. Grounded. When I look at you, I remember everything’s gonna be okay.”

A hand fell onto Ignis’ shoulder. “You once told me that dragonflies are teachers. Guardian spirits from the past. I brushed it off but now I know better. I know better because I know a dragonfly myself.”

Noctis poked the bridge of the chef’s nose. “Dragonfly, if there’s something you want to say, think, feel, go for it. Scream, I don’t care. Let the whole damn world know how you feel. I’m all that’s here, Ignis. It’s just me. No one else.”  


Ignis stared at him for a moment, wide, fretful eyes shining behind glasses. 

He then buried his head in Noctis’ chest and cried.

Neither of them went to sleep until the sunshine began to kiss the earth. And the first rays of sunshine found Ignis’ body enveloped by Noctis, the prince protecting his protector.

\---------------------  
“Hey, little brother, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Prompto, eyes fluttering and face aglow with the usual magic, beamed at Noctis under the morning light. He was the morning light himself, warm, forever friendly and forever loving. “What’s up, big bro? Everything all right between you and the Princess again?”

“Yeah and no, tell you the truth,” Noctis groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, while Gladio pestered Ignis over the morning’s menu. 

The photographer eyed him worriedly, but the more Noctis spoke, the quicker worry vanished. “Yeah we made up and everything, but I’ve got an itty bitty, teeny tiny, kinda big problem,” the sovereign chuckled nervously.

“Stuff happened and I kinda sorta did something.”

“What?” a wide eyed chocobo asked.

“I kinda fell for Ignis last night. Kinda sorta hard. And when I say that, I mean really hard. Really, really hard.”

“Don’t really see how that’s a problem, dude,” Prompto shrugged, inwardly beaming over what Ignis had just told him a few minutes ago, before Gladio wanted to know what was for breakfast because the hotel’s breakfast buffet just wouldn’t do. It was either Iggy’s food or the highway.

“I mean, I know you’re set up t’ marry Lady Luna ‘n everything, but you told me she just sees you as a friend. A really good friend.”

“She does,” Noctis shrugged, offended by how easily his little brother could brush everything off. “And I see her as a really, really good friend. She’s always known about my thing for Ignis, just as I know she’s got a crush on Cor. Luna’s not in this, little brother. Pay attention. I’m in love with my babysitter, gods damn it! What am I supposed to do?!”

Smiling, remembering what Ignis had just asked him a few minutes ago, Prompto replied:

“Just go with the flow, bro. We’ll be with you, every step of the way.”

And it was the following words that rang true in the photographer’s mind, each one enveloped in innocence, panic, longing.

_”After last night, I don’t feel the same around our darling Prince Noct. What do you suppose this is, little one, and what do you think I should do about it?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to focus heavily on Ignis’ perspective, but it just came out with focus on both prince and advisor. It hit especially hard while describing how Ignis was sitting on the bed, curled up, fearful of having expressed himself when he’s always so restrained. I wanted to depict Noctis looking at him, hating how afraid Ignis was of speaking his opinions.
> 
> I’ve got two follow-ups to this in mind-the scene in which Noctis actually confesses his feelings for Ignis, and a certain Chapter 13 scene in which Noctis returns to the world of the living, and Ignis has lost something of immense importance. The chef will think it’s a completely different Noctis meeting him in a battered, drained world, but Noctis will be lost in his own chasm of emotions. This was actually going to be a much smaller piece, but watching ‘Moana’ yesterday and visiting the Ignoct tag on Tumblr kinda caused it to blow up.
> 
> In the meantime, thank you for being here. It means more than you’ll ever know.


	3. Panacea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis takes matters into his own hands, steering his friendship with Ignis into even deeper waters.

Enough was enough.

The nightmares hadn’t stopped since they had left Galdin Quay. Noctis was sure he had gotten rid of them that night, having crossing the divide between himself and Ignis, but leaving the gentle dance of waves cast him into the coldest current imaginable. The succubus continued to drain the one that gave him life, leaving no moment untouched in doing so. The one that breathed life into the prince was infected by wraiths unseen, burdened by the coals of damnation he never should have had to bear. 

Ignis refused to even mention his nightmares, his refusal sometimes vehement in the presence of persistence. Regardless of how fiercely their princess pushed them back, though, Gladiolus and Prompto worked their magic. Comforted him without prying. Healed him with and without words. In the wake of incontrollable darkness, they always made it easier to fly. Lifted the rocks off Ignis’ wings and led him back into the world he knew-a calm, familiar, patient realm. A sky that knew not of darkness but of promise.

Daybreak. Colors kissing the earth, and all from the brothers that loved him. But it wouldn’t stop, the silence that pushed and pulled. It loomed over every second they shared, the black rain clouds created by a phantasm’s hands. So enough was enough.

Enough finally became enough during another night. Evening had only been kissing their campsite for an hour, watching over those that had just shared yet another flavorful, lovingly prepared dinner, but a certain wraith tore out of hiding. It vowed to ruin the hours set before a certain chef yet again, but it forgot to take note of something. Someone hadn’t fallen asleep. Someone _couldn’t_ fall asleep. His mind was the horizon during a thunderstorm, his thoughts focused on Prompto. Ignis. Seeing Luna again. Gladiolus. Iris. His father.

Ignis. 

Anguish breaking the sound barrier had him abandon whatever drive he had to rest. Noctis left behind the splintered threads of dreams to restore the dreams that had fallen out of the sky. Enough was enough.

It was time to heal so his breath of life could fly.

In the thick of night, the prince lifted the wailing, weeping advisor into his arms. Eyes made of firelight, in his arms the frost turned to the incandescence of memory. Bright, infinite and kind, overpowering light began to silence the deafening darkness. In his arms the moonlight trembled, urging Noctis to tighten his grip. To remind the forces above nothing would ever compel him to let go, even if the sky ceased to be. 

In his arms the moonlight trembled, breathing, clinging to air. Heart racing, spirit seeking relief, fluttering from one second to the next. Unwilling to let go of anything familiar, Ignis reached out as far as he could, grabbing a hold of the life memories gave. Air as fragile as a time’s wave. Shaken, lost in a world he did not know, he could do nothing but cling to all that he could not see. All that he knew he needed. Wings seeking air but only hitting the earth, the advisor yet again surrendered to tears.

Cries soon began to melt into silence once light grew, illuminating the night that pierced the dragonfly’s soul. Focusing on the forces within and below, Noctis shut his eyes while holding Ignis close, hands burying the tactician’s head into his chest. Blue warmth soon grew in the palms of his hands, enveloping both in an empyrean glow. The world was silenced as the incandescent flame grew, breathing life into the one he needed more than air. And from his lips a song fell, serene at first but elevating, emotion intensifying. Reconstructed memories were engraved in every word, every breath taken.

“We can build a tree house in the pine trees, we can keep our secrets buried underneath. 

Wildflowers crush between your fingers, clinging to the wild things that raised us.

Compass points you home, calling out from the east

Compass points you anywhere, closer to me.”

“Where you are, I will be

Miles high, in the deep

Where you are, I will be

Anywhere, in between.”

His chest swelled with a mystifying, electric level of deference. He was strong enough to move mountains but felt lighter than a feather, standing in the presence of a song. Carried onto notes gentle enough to relieve the world of all pain, and every breath of that song was given to his brother. With Prompto safely tucked into the night’s magic, taking pictures of their moon-kissed campsite just a few feet away, Gladio sank into the music swelling within their tent. _’Maybe he’s not such a loser after all,’_ the prince’s trainer nodded, wearing a smile made of stardust.

_’Never thought I’d be so proud of him. Noct really does have a good head on his shoulders.’_

A moment passed before a shriek tore through his thoughts. The moment his feet touched the earth inside their tent, the respect felt just a few moments ago withered like paper against the flame. “Mind telling me what’s got you screaming like a little wuss?” the gladiator groaned, while a tiny chocobo scampered up to their tent. There wasn’t much to worry about, as there was only Noctis holding onto Ignis, shivering over a-

“Wanna know what’s got me screaming? I’ll tell you what’s got me screaming! Your friend! Get it out of here?”

Gladio eyed the treacherous intruder with a raised eyebrow. “That cricket? Are you serious?”

“Yes I’m serious! It’s almost as big as you are!”

“I can fix that,” Iris’ brother beamed, lifting the cricket into the palms of his hands as though it weren’t anything but a paperclip. The content little creature was shown to the second little creature that appeared in the tent, initially alarmed by the prince’s scream but soon beaming over what Gladio held. “It’s adorable,” Prompto cooed, taking the humming creature into the palms of his hands. Meanwhile, a princess was returning to a familiar world, a precious world. A world he shared with those that remained close. And once his eyes fluttered open, his protector gave him a warm, brilliant smile.

“Hey there. Welcome back. Sorry those two idiots woke you.”

With a song echoing in the chambers of his mind, a groggy Ignis could only think of one question: “Are you all right?”

“Yeah yeah. I’m fine. Gotta say I’m sorry, though.”

“For what?” the advisor asked, tone and eyes wielding magic that was no longer exclusive to Prompto.

“For not realizing how incredibly sexy you are until now. By Shiva’s breath, you’re sexy.”

…

“What?”

_”Noctiiiiiiiiiis!”_

Prompto continued cooing over the cricket until Ignis blasted Noctis out of the tent, the tent sent into such a meteoric explosion of magic, it was obliterated.

Sleeping in the Regalia was only fun for Gladio and Prompto, a certain princess too busy burning holes into Noctis’ head to sleep, while Noctis tried to calm him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being a part of this little adventure. I’m really glad you’re here to brighten the long, monotonous days.
> 
> A certain scene between Noctis and Ignis was inspired by Disney’s ‘Atlantis’, a scene in which the heroine uses her mythical pendant to heal the hero. To activate his ancient healing powers, Noctis uses the power of song-and in this piece of the adventure, he sings the lyrics from Zella Day’s ‘Compass’. I listen to the song non-stop and found it thrilling to imagine Ray Chase singing it, as he does a phenomenal job of infusing such powerful emotions into the prince.
> 
> In pairing Noctis with someone other than Luna, I want to write her in a strong, positive light, not wanting it to seem like they're incompatible solely because of gender (or canon). I see Noct and Luna are platonic soulmates, spiritually intimate friends.
> 
> Ignis calling the prince by his full name, Noctis, is a sign of impending doom. Gladio’s ‘I can fix that’ line is from Psnyomi133’s abridged Brotherhood series, a light-hearted and hilarious yet true-to-the-characters take on the Brotherhood anime. 
> 
> A tiny preview of a scene I’m thinking of follows these notes. And once again, thank you for being a part of my day.  
> \-----------------------------------  
> “Noctis, this HAS to stop!”
> 
> “What are you talking about?!”
> 
> “This! _Us!_ We simply cannot go on like this!”
> 
>  
> 
> _”Why?! Is it because of what we’re supposed to be?! Is it because of what I’M supposed to be?!”_
> 
>  
> 
> “YES! You’re the Crown Prince, I’m your advisor, and you’re due to marry Lady Lunafreya in a few days! What we’re doing is irrational!”
> 
> “What we’re doing is what’s meant to happen! I’ve got every damn detail of my life mapped out but I don’t want any part of it! What I want is YOU, Ignis, and that’s not going to change, no matter how ‘illogical’ it is! I love you and I know there’s something in there, something in you that needs me just as much as I need you!”


	4. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well I call _bullshit!_ I know what I’m supposed to do, what I’m supposed to act, feel, sleep, eat, walk and dream! I know what everyone wants me to be, Ignis, and Luna knows what everyone wants _her_ to be! We’re supposed to be playing these damn parts but here’s a fun little fact: I don’t want any part of it!"

The last couple of weeks were like a dream. Even though they were following the path laid out before them by the Astrals, the wildfires of freedom lit up every moment they shared, carving precious memories into the veins of time. He met every morning with a smile, not just on the inside but on the outside, excited about the hours due to unfold. The springs of hope soared high every night, leading him far away from nightmares and into a field of joy. An abundance of hours filled with the smiles of his brothers. The young man that twisted and turned his insides out, in the most refreshing ways. The last couple of weeks truly were like a dream, whether they were on the road or under the stars, carving memories he’d cherish beyond the end of time.

And it was from that dream he ran. 

He ran as hard as he could, the pulse of a thunderstorm battering his ears and chest. He ran, arms pumping, mind racing, nothing about the dream he had fallen in love with making sense. Everything as strange as the night laid out before him. He shouldn’t have been running, shouldn’t have been trying to escape the place he called ‘home’, but there was that song. The lullaby given to him while he was lost in the thick of night. The arms that cradled him. The eyes that found him and calmed him whenever the world fell into darkness. The notes of their moments together, each one shining with boundless warmth. He should’ve stayed. Should’ve stood still, but-

He ran. Ran from a world he didn’t understand. Wasn’t meant to understand. Should’ve had no part of in the first place.

He was soon brought to a halt, hand grasping his wrist as though it were an anchor in the middle of a storm. Their eyes met, the eyes of a frightened, confused soul and the eyes of a prince, the latter radiant with anger. Sadness. The need to freeze time. The flow of time was causing the ruin of night, tearing Ignis away from him. As time stood still, Ignis’ eyes pierced his being like lances. And as time stood still, Noctis swore never to let go. “Wanna tell me what’s goin’ on?” the prince demanded, voice lashing out against the night’s fragile calm. 

Ignis tore away from him, eyes alive like fluttering wings. “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” he panted. _”This! US! It’s too much, it’s been going on for far too long, and it’s got to STOP! We cannot go on like this!”_

The tactician grimaced. Acknowledging the look on the prince’s face was like having Shiva drive blades through his flesh. Slowly. “Go on like what?” Noctis demanded, tightening his grip on the other’s wrist, not at all willing to let his caretaker, hero and protector go. 

Loosening his grip, for even a second, would allow Ignis to disappear forever.

And that was a nightmare he couldn’t afford to slip into.

Panic was a volcanic eruption on his advisor’s face, rising like the tides sweeping over the shores. “Like this,” he confessed, breathless, rain falling. Heavy emphasis placed on the word ‘this’, in reference to the dreams that had just passed. The warm, wonderful, uplifting dreams. “We can’t do this anymore, Noct! You have to know that as well as I do!”

Noctis’ voice dominated the calm of night. “Why?! Is it because of what we’re supposed to be? Because of what I’M supposed to be?!”

 _”YES!_ You’re the Crown Prince, I’m your mentor, and you’re set to marry Lady Lunafreya in just a few weeks! Have we been out of sorts? Oh no. ‘Out of sorts’ is what you call Prompto whenever he’s badgering himself! We’re a billion miles away from ‘out of sorts’, Noctis! We’ve gone beyond all hope! We’ve got to turn back!”

“So what? What is it you’re telling me? You want to just act as if nothing’s happened between us? Everything’s supposed to just go back to normal because that’s the way it works, right? Everything’s supposed to be all neat and tidy, mapped out, set out so all I have to do is get out of bed every morning and play my damn part, right?! Well I call _bullshit!_ I know what I’m supposed to do, what I’m supposed to act, feel, sleep, eat, walk and dream! I know what everyone wants me to be, Ignis, and Luna knows what everyone wants _her_ to be! We’re supposed to be playing these damn parts but here’s a fun little fact: I don’t want any part of it! What I want is YOU, Ignis, and Luna knows that! She knows! She’s always known!”

Ignis’ instinctively rose the level of his voice to match Noctis’, compelled to do so by the electricity flowing through the night’s veins. “What has she always known?”

“That I love you,” came the breathless answer. “I’ve _always_ loved you. You’re my saving grace. My _air._ I may have been born to take the throne but I was really born to meet you. Find you and fall in love with you. Everyone’s got a point of origin, Ignis, and you’re mine.”

Aside from an obvious, intensely high discomfort with anything new, Ignis was unreadable. To lighten the air, earth and the moments between, Noctis threw in a weak chuckle: “Besides, Lu’s got her eyes on someone else too. You wouldn’t guess who it is in a hundred years. But getting back on track…everyone knows what I need, but I know what I want, and what I want is _you._ I know there’s something in there, something in you, that feels the same way I do. Something that wants me to love you the way you deserve to be loved. If I’m right, if there’s even a small part of you that wants to go after this, then give me a chance. Please. Let me try. Let me try to make you happy.”

“If I’m wrong, I’ll walk away and this conversation never happened. Everything that’s happened between us will go away. You’ll go back to being my babysitter and I’ll go back to being the douchebag you work for.” He held out his palm, alarming Ignis even more. 

“Don’t say anything. Don’t even think. I would ask you to think but all you ever do is think. Just do this. If I’m right-“ Noctis extended his arm, inviting the other to take his hand. “Take my hand. If I’m wrong, turn away, and everything will go back to the way it was before. Just as it should be.”

“How long do I-“

“Just a second, Princess. That’s all you get,” Noctis chuckled, chest swelling with tears, every passing second like a dagger peeling the flesh off his bones. “Just a second. You know what you feel. Just act on it. Okay?”

In the moment that followed, the Astrals ordered the earth to stand still. And in that moment-

Ignis took Noctis’ hand.

The prince’s laughter was quiet at first, loud with relief but weighed down by infinite exhaustion. It quickly became uproariously,   
tearful, alive with euphoria. And in the heartbeat that followed, the laughing sovereign tackled his advisor. 

Both of them fell against the earth in a tearful, anxious yet excited and hopeful heap.

In another corner of their world, Gladiolus was holding a weeping, thoroughly relieved photographer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again. I’m really glad you’re here.
> 
> In the weeks preceding the events of this chapter, Noctis and Ignis flirt with each other but nothing serious drives their friendship to another level. Here, Ignis decides ‘enough is enough’. This piece of the adventure was inspired by the Final Fantasy XIII scene in which Vanille and Sazh confront brutal truth, Vanille’s dialogue and frayed nerves driving Ignis’ role in this chapter. Noctis says a line inspired by the movie ‘Brown Sugar’, in which the   
> character originally speaking that line puts beautiful emphasis on the word ‘air’. 
> 
> I loved writing out Noctis’ lines because his voice actor puts such powerful feeling into them. Writing a brokenhearted prince hurt, because Ray Chase actually sounds like he’s upset whenever Noct’s upset, but because of that brilliant sincerity driven into the prince’s character, Noct was a thrill to write. 
> 
> The outline for this chapter didn’t originally include Lunafreya, but Noct’s upcoming marriage is part of why Ignis is hesitant to embrace their feelings for each other. I didn’t want gender to be at all an issue here, with it seeming like Noctis is abandoning the woman for a secret affair with a man, so I put great emphasis on the powerful friendship between prince and oracle. Noctis isn’t thrilled about marrying her but loves her beyond words. She feels the same. I don’t want prince, advisor or oracle painted in a negative light, so I hope I did my job right.
> 
> Finally, Prompto’s part at the end of this chapter was inspired by his DLC teaser.


End file.
